


You're in Full Blossom

by yellowrosesray



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Hanahaki Disease, Light Angst, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Unrequited Love, friends not lovers, seriously its barely angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 07:40:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14996051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellowrosesray/pseuds/yellowrosesray
Summary: Chenle loves the dumb but endearing boy who lives across the street, Jisung, but when he falls victim to the deadly Hanahaki disease, perhaps it’s time for him to let go of his one sided love.





	You're in Full Blossom

Chenle woke up in the pitch dark, soaked in cold sweat and coughing up a fit. He groped around in the dark and felt his hand fall onto his phone. Desperately, he tried to turn on the flashlight function. His efforts were to no avail. Stumbling off his sweat soaked bed, he hobbled to his bedroom door but couldn’t turn the doorknob with his sweaty palms. Crumpling to the ground, he continued to cough violently, clutching his chest. 

 

Then he saw it. One, two, three petals fell from his lips and onto the cold hardwood floor. Chenle struggled to swallow with his mouth dry as sand. He knew it what it was from the first glance.

 

Hanahaki, the disease of a one-sided love, and he knew exactly who was to blame. That godforsaken kid across the street, with big ,(dumb ,but reliable) hands and a big ,(dumb, but adorable) smile. Who’s too tall for his age but still scared of cockroaches. Who waits for Chenle every morning because he doesn’t want to walk to school alone. Who has a dream of becoming a writer when the only subject he isn’t failing is gym. Jisung Park. Chenle smiled at the thought as tears welled in his eyes. Man, was it bittersweet. 

 

//

 

Before Chenle went to the doctor the next day, he texted Jisung not to wait for him and to walk to school by himself. When Jisung didn’t ask why, Chenle felt his heart fall a little. Chenle shoved his phone back into his pocket and huffed a sigh. He stepped onto the bus, paid his fee, and held his backpack to his chest as he sat down. He began to cough again. He felt the passengers’ eyes on him as he dislodged two more petals from his throat. 

 

After a long and uncomfortable while, Chenle finally found himself sitting on the hospital bed. “Chenle, it’s good to see you! What seems to be troubling you today?” Dr. Seo asked.

 

“I just, uh, coughed up some flower petals yesterday and some today. Here’s two that came up on the way here.” He opened his hand, displaying the two petals he coughed up in the bus.

 

“Ah. Common violet. Do you know what that means Chenle?” Dr. Seo said, eyes sympathetic and kind. When Chenle didn’t answer, Dr. Seo continued. “It’s the Hanahaki disease, but I’m sure you knew already. Shall we take an x-ray?”

 

Turns out, Chenle had common violets rooted in his left lung, with growth starting about three years ago, or, when Chenle moved to the house across the street from Jisung’s. “Will I live?” Chenle asked bluntly. He picked at his fingernails and started at the ground, too afraid to look into the doctor’s eyes.

 

Dr. Seo seemed taken aback. “Well, of course there’s the possibility. We have to consider all the factors here. You could either get the feeling reciprocated, or we could surgically remove the flower. Otherwise, you know…”

 

“Thanks, Dr. Seo. I’ll think about it.”

 

“Alright Chenle! Remember to drink plenty of water. Here, let’s see when we’ll need a follow-up.”

 

//

 

Chenle continued to wake up early for the next few days. Always soaked in sweat and with an impossibly dry throat. He started collecting his petals. Doctor’s orders. He counted them every time he finished a coughing fit. It started with 5, and gradually grew.

 

_5,_ _6,_ _7,_ _8 ,_ _9,_ _10,_ _11,_ _12,_ _13,_ _14,_ _15,_ _16,_ _17…_

 

//

 

Today he would be going back to school. He’d taken the last few days off because of a “fever.” Today he wore his round wire framed glasses with a yellow sweatshirt and light blue jeans. His hair was blonde and his roots were growing out, but it wasn’t really a priority to fix that right now. 

 

“Jisung!” Chenle called as he stepped out the front door and slipped on his sneakers. He had, seriously, never been this excited to see anyone before. It was childish, but true. 

 

“Hey, Le,” Jisung replies, hand waving in greeting. “Where’ve you been? You haven’t even texted me even once these past few days.”

 

Chenle couldn’t help his heart from skipping a beat. “I had a fever, but I’m all healed now, don’t worry!” Chenle smiled, skipping down the driveway, before being stopped by another cough. Then another. As Chenle clutched his chest and coughed, three more petals fell onto the pavement.

 

“Chenle!” Jisung exclaimed as he ran to Chenle’s side, hand resting on his shoulder. Chenle reached up and clutched Jisung’s arm as he gasped for breath.

 

When Chenle’s erratic breathing stopped, he forced his trembling lips into a smile as he looked up and saw Jisung’s worried expression. “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

 

“Dude, what the fuck! Why are you coughing up fucking flowers? Chenle, what the hell is going on?” Jisung yelled, hands gripping Chenle’s shoulders. “Is this why you haven’t been at school for the past few days? Fever my ass. Oh my god, Chenle.” 

 

“Hey, you gremlin,” Chenle tried to joke. “Stop overreacting. It’s just a common sickness. I’m going to get it treated soon.” Chenle chuckled bitterly, and hit Jisung’s arm. “You wouldn’t get it anyway.”

 

“Oh. Stop scaring me, man. Oh my god,” Jisung said as he ran his hands through his hair and sighed. Chenle exhaled in relief. Thank god Jisung was a dense as a rock. Chenle hooked his arm into Jisung’s as they began to walk. 

 

They would have been just like a couple, if only Jisung’s heart raced like Chenle’s did. If only Jisung loved Chenle as much and Chenle loved him.

 

//

 

Chenle didn’t tell his friends. How could he? They didn’t have to know. He didn’t want them to know. Who was he to shove this into his friends’ faces? 

 

“Guys, I’m going into surgery today,” Chenle blurted, and immediately panicked as he saw the shocked faces around him. Before anyone could say anything Chenle quickly added, “But it’s not major or anything, so I’ll be fine.” 

 

Chenle prayed his friends wouldn’t pelt him with questions, and they didn’t. Thank god.

 

//

 

Jisung couldn’t walk Chenle home that day because he had tutoring. In a sense, this was good because Chenle would have definitely cried. His surgery was today. 

 

He made his way to the hospital and found himself in the same familiar white room. All he could see were doctors and nurses hurriedly walking in and out of his room. The urgency of the situation then stilled when a nurse told him to take a deep breath and injected him with anesthesia. 

 

“Take a deep breath. Now count backwards from one-hundred. One-hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight…”

 

_97,_ _96,_ _95,_ _94,_ _93,_ _92,_ _91,_ _90,_ _89,_ _88,_ _87,_ _86…_

 

//

 

Chenle woke up in a daze, a white ceiling coming into focus. It was unfamiliar. He sat up in panic and saw his mother, asleep, on a chair next to his bed. His heart pounded in his chest. He was scared. He didn’t want to think about anything, but, he did. He thought about his friends. They must have been texting him, but he hadn’t bothered to check. 

 

Suddenly his phone buzzed, which prompted Chenle to reach over to the bedside table and to grab his phone. Scrolling through the messages, he smiled to himself. He saw a string of supportive messages and emoticons to cheer him up before the procedure. He scrolled further and further and saw a message from Jisung. Oh right. Jisung.

 

Jisung was nice. He walked with Chenle to school every morning. He’s dumb but it’s sort of endearing because he works so hard. He’s so tall. Too tall. His hands are huge. Too huge. He’s scared of cockroaches. He’s basically flunking school. He’s just not Chenle’s type.

 

//

 

So, Chenle’s heart stopped skipping beats when Jisung greeted him every morning. His breathing kept a steady pace when they linked arms. 

 

No one really noticed a change, and to any third-party, there wasn’t a change at all. Jisung didn’t know about Chenle’s fleeting love and he probably wouldn’t ever. Chenle was okay with that. The world moved on, so Chenle did too.

**Author's Note:**

> (I love chensung but I also love making myself mildly sad.)
> 
> If the ending is rushed I'm sorry I didn't want to drag on the story.
> 
> This is my first time writing a fic, so if you have any constructive criticism please don't hesitate to tell me!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading,
> 
> Ray


End file.
